What It Means To Be Free
by havarti2
Summary: Everything is the same for the swim club. When two new students show up at Iwatobi High wanting to join the swim club, will things take a turn for the better or worse? I don't own Free! Iwatobi Swim Club.
1. Two New Students?

Makoto and Haru walked into homeroom on the Monday morning the week after midyear exams. They both took their seats and waited for class to begin. "Hey Haru-chan, what do you think we're going to be learning next?" Makoto asked, looking at his best friend.

"I don't care. I want to swim," Haru replied, staring out the window at the sakura tree outside in the courtyard.

"Typical Haru-chan. Well, I hope it isn't advanced calculus," Makoto laughed. At that moment, Amakata-sensei entered the classroom, two teenagers following behind.

"Good morning class! Today, we have two new students joining us," she announced, turning to the two students. "This is Noriko Akane and Shiro Kimura. If you two could introduce yourselves to the the class, that would be wonderful,"

"Hey. The name's Akane. Girly name, but I'm a guy," Noriko said, smiling at the rest of the class. Noriko had red-orange hair, green eyes like Makoto's, and a sun-kissed complexion like he had a tan. He stood at about five foot ten and had broad shoulders that looked like they had been built up by a sport. Noriko looked very athletic. For his uniform, he wore a green tie, like Makoto and Haru.

"My name is Shiro. I have the name of a boy, but I am a girl. It is nice to meet you," Shiro whispered, barely heard by the other students. Shiro had silvery-blonde hair, blue eyes like Haru's that, Makoto noticed, were distant. She had pale skin, like Nagisa. She was about 5 feet, 6 ½ inches tall, Makoto estimated.

"Welcome, Noriko and Shiro!" the class welcomed. Amakata-sensei smiled at the new students and then at the class.

"Akane-kun, you will sit next to Tachibana-kun. Kimura-chan, you will be sitting next to Nanase-kun. Tachibana-kun, Nanase-kun, raise your hands so Akane-kun and Kimura-chan may find their seats," Amakata-sensei said, looking at the two boys in the back of the room.

"The new students get to sit back here with us! Isn't that great, Haru-chan?" Makoto asked, raising his hand.

"Stop adding chan to my name," Haru replied, also raising his hand.

Makoto laughed. "You'll never change, will you, Haru-chan?"

"Hm," came his answer.

Makoto watched as the two new students headed towards him and Haru, Noriko leading and Shiro following close behind. Noriko pulled out Shiro's chair and whispered something to her. She nodded and sat down, pulling her chair in. Noriko then took his seat next to Makoto. He turned to face his new classmate.

"Name's Noriko. Nice ta meet ya, Tachibana-kun," Noriko greeted, extending his hand to Makoto.

"You can call me Makoto if you'd like. Nice to meet you too, Noriko," Makoto replied, taking Noriko's hand in a firm shake.

"You've got a strong grip, Noriko," Makoto said, surprised.

"As do you, my friend. You work out?" Noriko asked, taking his hand back.

"Yes, I swim. I'm in the swim club with Haru-chan," Makoto answered, looking at the aforementioned swimmer, who was absentmindedly doodling in his notebook.

"Oh wow! That's cool. And a coincidence, seeing as I swim too," Noriko exclaimed, eyes shining. "I swim butterfly and breast. What do you swim?"

"I swim back," Makoto said, smiling. He looked over at Shiro. "I have a question. How do you know Kimura-chan?"

"That's a long story for another time. And, piece of advice, don't call her Kimura-chan. She hates being called by her last name. Haven't the slightest idea why, though. So, anyway, can I join the swim club?" Noriko advised.

"Sure-" Makoto started, only to be interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Both Makoto and Noriko turned to the source of the sound, only to see a very angry Amakata-sensei glowering at them.

"Is there something you want to share, Tachibana-kun, Akane-kun?" she asked, dark aura surrounding her.

"No Ma'am!" both boys yelped, fearing for their lives. Amakata-sensei gave a satisfied nod and headed back to the front of the room, going back to the lesson that Makoto and Noriko were not paying attention to.

"We'll talk about it after class," Makoto whispered, avoiding a death glare from Amakata-sensei. Noriko nodded quickly, then shot a glance at Shiro, who sat at her desk quietly, listening to the lecture. Worry flashed across his face for a brief moment, so brief that Makoto almost didn't notice it.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, and Noriko jolted up, looking at him.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."


	2. Scolding and Stripping

**Hey everybody! Havarti2 here! Sorry for being a lazy authoress (and the fact I had one arm for six weeks because of a broken wrist) and not updating anything, but here's the next (short) chapter! Enjoy! :D**

* * *

After class and a scolding from Amakata-sensei, Makoto and Noriko joined up with Haru and Shiro.

"You're an idiot," Haru said, looking at Makoto. His friend laughed.

"Yeah, I guess I was being an idiot," he replied, smiling at Haru.

"OW! WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?"

The two swimmers looked over at Noriko, who was holding his head, and Shiro, who was holding a hardbound book. "THAT HURTS, YOU KNOW!" Noriko yelled, glaring daggers at Shiro.

"You weren't paying attention. That's why. And yes, I know. That's why I did it," she replied, putting her book back in her bag. Makoto and Haru looked at each other and Makoto started laughing.

"Hey! It's not funny!" Noriko exclaimed, lightly hitting Makoto in the arm. He hated it when people laughed at him when he got scolded by Shiro. It was downright embarrassing.

"Okay, okay. Sorry. But it _is_ funny," Makoto replied, wiping his eyes, as he had started to cry from laughing too much.

"You better be…" Noriko mumbled, glaring at his classmate.

At that moment, the bell for second period rang. The two boys looked up, as Haru didn't really care and was thinking about swimming and Shiro just stood there, waiting for Noriko to stop being an idiot.

"See you after class, Makoto," Noriko said, taking Shiro's hand.

"Why are you doing that? Are you two dating?" Makoto asked, confused by Noriko's action.

"Uh…" Noriko replied.

"Noriko is taking me to class. That's all," Shiro finished, while Noriko breathed a sigh of relief for who-knows-what reason.

"Well, see ya!" Noriko said, walking down the hallway with Shiro beside him, smacking him with her free hand.

"I wonder what that was about…" Makoto thought aloud. Haru looked at him then at Shiro and Noriko, who were already at the end of the hallway.

"Hm," he grunted. Makoto turned to his friend.

"Oh, Haru-chan, Noriko said he wanted to join the swim club!" he exclaimed.

Haru stared him again. Someone wanted to join the swim club? That meant they would have to open the pool early, which meant he got to swim. Thinking of swimming, his eyes sparkled.

"Thinking about the pool, hey, Haru-chan? We can open it early if Noriko joins. Isn't that great?" Makoto asked excitedly. He looked at his friend only to see Haru take off his shoes and start to unbutton his shirt.

"AH! Haru-chan, we can't go swimming now! We have class!" Makoto yelped, causing Haru to look at him as if he had interrupted something important, aka him undressing to go swimming. "We can go swimming after school with Nagisa and Rei, alright? Just wait till then, okay, Haru-chan?"

"I want to swim," he replied, putting his shoes back on and re-buttoning his shirt in hidden disappointment.


End file.
